PUBLPOL 55N:Public Policy and Personal Finance (ECON 25N)

The seminar will provide an introduction and discussion of the impact of public policy on personal finance. Voters regularly rate the economy as one of the most important factors shaping their political views and most of those opinions are focused on their individual bottom lines. In this course we will discuss the rationale for different public policies and how they affect personal financial situations. We will explore personal finance issues such as taxes, loans, charity, insurance, and pensions. Using the context of (hypothetical) personal finance positions, we will discuss the public policy implications of various proposals and how they affect different groups of people, for example: the implications of differential tax rates for different types of income, the promotion of home ownership in the U.S., and policies to care for our aging population. While economic policy will be the focus of much of the course, we will also examine some of the implications of social policies on personal finance as well. There will be weekly readings and several short policy-related writing assignments.

In nearly all polls, American voters rank the economy as one of their most important concerns. In the presidential election, much of the debate for voters will be on questions of economic policy. In this course, we will delve deeply into economic policy issues to understand options for government intervention and possible outcomes. We will combine economic analysis with political science methodology to understand efficient and implementable policy proposals.nnSpecific areas of interest will be taxation, budget, entitlement programs, economic regulation and competition policy, trade, demography, income inequality, and monetary policy. The course will incorporate other timely and salient policy issues as they arise during the course of the campaign. n nStudents will be expected to write a short paper and make an oral presentation to the class. A wide range of topics will be acceptable, including those directly related to campaign issues as well as other long-term economic issues facing the country.

Last offered: Autumn 2016
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI

PUBLPOL 101:Introduction to American Politics and Policy: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (AMSTUD 123X, POLISCI 102, PUBLPOL 201)

This is a course about American politics, which means this is a course about individuals, identities, and institutions. How do Americans come to think andnreason about politics? What is the role that identities play in affecting the political judgments that individuals make? How do our political institutionsnrespond to the demands of a diverse public that disagrees about issues related to race and justice, income and wealth inequality, climate change, gunncontrol, reproductive rights, the power of the executive, and the role that government ought to play in the lives of the governed? And how do we makensense of this seemingly peculiar contemporary moment in American politics? These are not easy questions, but they are ones for which political sciencenprovides a useful foundation to guide our inquiry. The objective of this course is to introduce students to various concepts and theoretical frameworks thatnhelp us understand the messiness and complexity of American politics. In addition to classroom lectures and discussion sections, students will benrequired to apply concepts and theoretical frameworks to contemporary issues in American politics. Undergraduate Public Policy students are required to enroll in this class for 5 units.

PUBLPOL 105:Empirical Methods in Public Policy (PUBLPOL 205)

Methods of empirical analysis and applications in public policy. Emphasis on causal inference and program evaluation. Public policy applications include health, education, and labor. Assignments include hands-on data analysis, evaluation of existing literature, and a final research project. Objective is to obtain tools to 1) critically evaluate evidence used to make policy decisions and 2) perform empirical analysis to answer questions in public policy. Prerequisite:
ECON 102B. Enrollment is limited to Public Policy students. Public Policy students must take the course for a letter grade.

PUBLPOL 106:Law and Economics (ECON 154, PUBLPOL 206)

This course explores the role of law in promoting social well-being (happiness). Law, among its other functions, can serve as a mechanism to harmonize private incentives with cooperative gains, to support an equitable division of those gains, and to deter "cheating" and dystopia. Law is thus essential to civilization. Economic analysis of law focuses on the welfare-enhancing incentive effects of law and its enforcement and on law's role in reducing the risks of cooperation, achieved by fixing expectations of what courts or the state will do in various futures. Specific topics include welfare economics, torts, property, contracts, regulation, process and antitrust. Requires a term paper applying economic analysis to a case, procedure, or law. Prerequisite:
ECON 50.

PUBLPOL 107:Public Finance and Fiscal Policy (ECON 141)

What role should and does government play in the economy? What are the effects of government spending, borrowing, and taxation on efficiency, equity and economic stability and growth? The course covers economic, historical and statistical analyses and current policy debates in the U.S. and around the world. Policy topics: Fiscal crises, budget deficits, the national debt and intergenerational equity; tax systems and tax reform; social security and healthcare programs and reforms; transfers to the poor; public goods and externalities; fiscal federalism; public investment and cost-benefit analysis; and the political economy of government decision-making. Prerequisites:
ECON 51 (Public Policy majors may take
PUBLPOL 51 as a substitute for
ECON 51),
ECON 52 (can be taken concurrently).

Last offered: Spring 2018
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI

PUBLPOL 113:America: Unequal (CSRE 3P, SOC 3)

It was never imagined "when the U.S. was founded" that the rich would be so rich and the poor so poor. It was never imagined "when the U.S. was founded" that opportunities to get ahead would depend so profoundly on one's family circumstances and other starting conditions. How could this have happened in the "land of opportunity?" What are the effects of such profound inequality? And what, if anything, should be done about it?

PUBLPOL 121L:Racial-Ethnic Politics in US (CSRE 121L, POLISCI 121L)

Why is contemporary American politics so sharply divided along racial and party lines? Are undocumented immigrants really more likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens? What makes a political ad "racist?" The U.S. population will be majority-minority by 2050; what does this mean for future electoral outcomes? We will tackle such questions in this course, which examines various issues surrounding the development of political solidarity within racial groups; the politics of immigration, acculturation, and identification; and the influence of race on public opinion, political behavior, the media, and in the criminal justice system. Prior coursework in Economics or Statistics strongly recommended.

Overview of the most pressing biosecurity issues facing the world today. Guest lecturers have included former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Special Assistant on BioSecurity to Presidents Clinton and Bush Jr. Dr. Ken Bernard, Chief Medical Officer of the Homeland Security Department Dr. Alex Garza, eminent scientists, innovators and physicians in the field, and leaders of relevant technology companies. How well the US and global healthcare systems are prepared to withstand a pandemic or a bioterrorism attack, how the medical/healthcare field, government, and the technology sectors are involved in biosecurity and pandemic or bioterrorism response and how they interface, the rise of synthetic biology with its promises and threats, global bio-surveillance, making the medical diagnosis, isolation, containment, hospital surge capacity, stockpiling and distribution of countermeasures, food and agriculture biosecurity, new promising technologies for detection of bio-threats and countermeasures. Open to medical, graduate, and undergraduate students. No prior background in biology necessary. 4 units for twice weekly attendance (Mon. and Wed.); additional 1 unit for writing a research paper for 5 units total maximum.